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The Civil Justice System and the Public

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The Civil Justice System and the Public The Civil Justice System and the Public Justice for Nunavummiut: Partnerships for solutions Final Report June 2008 Travis Anderson & Mary Stratton Canadian Forum on Civil Justice 110 Law Centre University of Alberta Edmonton AB T6G 2H5 (780) 492 9426 [email protected] Who We Are The Canadian Forum on Civil justice The Canadian Forum on Civil justice is an independent organization working to improve the way the civil justice system in Canada meets the needs of the people it is intended to serve. The purpose of the civil justice system is to help people determine rights and peacefully resolve disagreements in non-criminal issues. We believe that the system can be improved and access to justice can be increased for all Canadians. Making positive changes in the way the system communicates with the people that use it, is one way to work towards this goal. The Civil Justice System and the Public Project The purpose of the Civil Justice System and the Public research is to hear about the experiences of people who have been involved in the civil justice system and to involve as many people as possible in making clear recommendations for change. We have used interviews, observations, questionnaires, focus groups, community workshops and case studies of good communication practices to achieve this goal. We visited rural and urban locations in Alberta, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec, Nunavut, and British Columbia, and approximately 400 people have now taken part. Action for Change We have many supportive partners in justice community organizations across Canada and we are working with these people to make sure our research findings are known and acted upon. We are not just creating one report, but many papers and presentations to address the interests and needs of different organizations and people. All the details about the Civil Justice System and the Public research, as well as our published reports, are available on our web site at www.cfcj-fcjc.org. 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Civil Justice System and the Public is a collaborative project. This report is made possible because of the contributions of many individuals. We wish to thank all of the people who have talked with us about their views and experiences of civil justice in Canada. We also thank our Research Partners; Research Directors Lois Gander, Diana Lowe, Teresa Rose and Barbara Billingsley; and each of the Research Assistants who has contributed to the team. A special ‘thank you’ is due to: members of the organizing committee for the Nunavut and Ottawa community workshops; the Research Assistants based in Iqaluit, Rankin Inlet and Ottawa, who organized these events locally; and translator and interpreters who assisted us. We are grateful to the Alberta Law Foundation, Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and the Law Foundation of British Columbia who have provided the funding for this project. Thanks also to the Nunavut Court of Justice and the Ottawa Aboriginal Healing Foundation, who donated space in which to hold the Iqaluit and Ottawa workshops. We continue to collaborate with and learn from people in Nunavut and across Canada as we work to bring about positive change to our systems of civil justice. Partners in Nunavut and Ottawa have given feedback on an earlier version of this report, providing valuable clarifications and updates. Photographs within this report are provided by Mary Stratton. The cover picture is of an Iqaluit Art Park Sculpture. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS BACKGROUND TO THE REPORT .............................................................................................................4 OUR APPROACH TO REPORTING ............................................................................................................6 WHAT IS JUSTICE?.....................................................................................................................................8 Colonial ‘Justice’ versus Traditional Inuit Customs............................................................................9 The Geographical Realities of Nunavut ..............................................................................................11 Jurisdictional complexities ..................................................................................................................12 RE-DEFINING JUSTICE IN A CHALLENGING CONTEXT ......................................................................14 ISSUES IN FAMILY, CIVIL AND ADMINISTRATIVE JUSTICE................................................................18 1. Providing public legal information and education.........................................................................18 2. Accessing legal professionals and legal services.........................................................................20 Accessing lawyers.............................................................................................................................21 Accessing Legal Aid..........................................................................................................................22 Accessing Court Services ................................................................................................................24 Accessing a community-based legal process................................................................................25 Accessing community-based legal workers...................................................................................27 3. Power differences between litigants ...............................................................................................28 4. Enforcement of court rulings laws and entitlements ....................................................................29 5. Issues Specific to Family Law..........................................................................................................30 High rate of family violence ..............................................................................................................30 Inuit children and child protection laws..........................................................................................33 6. Issues Specific to Civil Law .............................................................................................................33 7. Administrative Law............................................................................................................................36 Housing...............................................................................................................................................38 Employment: ......................................................................................................................................39 8. Parallels and Variances ....................................................................................................................40 Rankin Inlet: .......................................................................................................................................41 Iqaluit...................................................................................................................................................42 Ottawa .................................................................................................................................................44 CREATIVE JUSTICE FOR NUNAVUMMIUT.............................................................................................46 Recommendations for Achieving the Vision......................................................................................46 1. Access to public legal education and information (PLEI) .......................................................49 2. Access to legal services and legal professionals ....................................................................49 3. Litigants with unequal power .....................................................................................................53 4. Enforcement of court rulings, laws and entitlements..............................................................53 5. Specific Issues related to Family, Civil and Administrative Law ............................................54 6. Parallels and variances ...............................................................................................................57 7. Creating an evidence base – A recommendation for research...............................................57 NETWORKS AND PARTNERSHIPS FOR CREATIVE SOLUTIONS.......................................................59 Local Networks ......................................................................................................................................60 Recommendations.............................................................................................................................61 Regional Networks ................................................................................................................................61 Recommendations.............................................................................................................................62 Territorial Networks...............................................................................................................................62 Recommendations.............................................................................................................................63 National Networks .................................................................................................................................63
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